Voyager
USS Voyager's original television design is all about sleekness and efficiency: an arrowhead primary hull with integrated secondary section and variable-geometry nacelles that tuck in for warp. With a low profile and sleek, almost aerodynamic lines, its appearance indicates a quick, long-range explorer meant to live autonomously.
In contrast, the Athena is neither low-profile nor modest; its ring-and-core design, massive dorsal surfaces, and wing-like nacelles give it the impression of a futuristic institution or a ceremonial flagship, rather than a lost starship constructed for the Badlands. Both vessels contain moving parts: Voyager’s pivoting nacelles and Athena’s decoupling outer ring and detachable nacelles.
However, the Athena utilizes her motion for spectacle and change, transforming from spacecraft to multi-building campus instead of just maximizing warp geometry. Visually, Voyager feels like it belongs cutting through unexplored space, whereas the Athena appears equally at home floating over San Francisco Bay as the symbolic centerpiece of a restored Starfleet.